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[0:00] Robert Bannon: Are you ready? It's The Roundtable with me, Robert Bannon.

[0:15] Robert Bannon: Hi, everybody. Welcome to The Roundtable. My name is Robert Bannon. You're listening to us on the Broadway Podcast Network or watching us on Broadway World or on social media. So listen, I am from Bergen County, New Jersey. I am from Richfield Park, New Jersey. My parents are from Fort Lee, New Jersey. I live in Detroit now with my husband. I'm in New Jersey right now. It's the day after Thanksgiving that we're filming this. And when I tell you, the Vivino family here is legendary. So Donna Vivino is here and she is a legend. I love a good Italian Jersey girl. Like just the thought of that makes me want to be straight again. And the whole point of this is that I've been listening to her and her family sing forever and ever and ever. Donna Vivino, welcome to The Roundtable.

[1:02] Donna Vivino: Hi, I'm so happy to be here.

[1:04] Donna Vivino: I'm Fairlawn, New Jersey in the house. Fairlawn. Fairlawn is where I grew up and then I've lived all over the world. And I'm actually back there now. And my son is going to school in Fairlawn. I'm back in my hometown. I'm back in Bergen County. Right where 208 and Route 4 split. And the whole Fairlawn is where it's at.

[1:18] Robert Bannon: Wow, you're the real deal. You really know Jersey.

[1:24] Donna Vivino: I am Jersey. I rep the Jersey. And shout out to you and your family and Uncle Floyd and the whole group of people that are your family that have entertained us for many, many years all around the tri-state. And so I'm so honored to talk to you.

[1:38] Donna Vivino: Thanks. Yes. We are a legacy now, I think.

[1:42] Robert Bannon: You sure are.

[1:42] Donna Vivino: And my sisters too. Absolutely. And your family, like the whole entire thing. So I'm excited you're here. We're here to talk about Hell's Kitchen, which is maybe the most fun time you can have on Broadway.

[1:55] Robert Bannon: It's such a great show. It's a party, right? It's a musical party.

[2:00] Donna Vivino: It is a party. It is the best time you're going to have on Broadway.

[2:04] Robert Bannon: So what is it? Tell us when we can see you. You play the mom in the show.

[2:08] Donna Vivino: Yes, I'm actually, my last day with the show is December 11th. So if you come December 3rd through December 11th, that'll be my last week and a half. So come check me out before I leave. And yeah, her name is Jersey. And she's a single mom, as am I. So there's a lot of, I feel very connected to this part in so many ways. And it's been a really beautiful journey being part of the show. So, yeah.

[2:39] Robert Bannon: Well, it is the most fun. What an amazing relationship. So you as a single mom, in the story there's a single mom who's very scared of letting her daughter be out in the world and looks for the daughters looking for outlets and what it's like to daughter that dates and you and you have your own experience as the mom with her father. And it's a whole family saga. So how did you find your way into Jersey and finding as a mom, you must automatically know the feeling of having a child in this world?

[3:06] Donna Vivino: Well, you just want to protect your child. And, you know, Ali is a teenager at this point. My son is actually a small child, but Ali's a teenager. And the crazy thing about having a teenager, I can, I can, you know, is that they want to spread their wings and they're young women, young adult. Ali's a young woman who is like, I, I know, I know there's more to life than this. She sings in River. Something's calling me. She wants to explore. She, she wants to find love. She wants to, she discovers the piano. Now Jersey might seem like a mean mom who's holding her back, but she's also like, Oh my gosh, we live in New York City. You're a young, beautiful girl. I don't want you to make the same mistakes that I've made. So it's all coming from protection and a mother's love, but it comes out very harsh sometimes. And Jersey makes some mistakes.

[3:59] Donna Vivino: Oh yeah. Cause she's just a human trying to figure it out too. You know, and she has a baby's father who pops in, tell you that moments in the show where they sing, where the two of you sing is some of the best vocals and arrangements of songs that you know and love on Broadway. So what's it like to sing these Alicia Keys hits in front of a Broadway audience?

[4:21] Donna Vivino: Incredible. And I know what song you're talking about and the audience goes crazy. And, and I love the arrangement, you know, Adam Blackstone and giving me a jazz vibe. It's so cool. I'm like, that's actually one, it's actually my, possibly my favorite scene to play in the whole show because it's just so cool. And you're not expecting it. And then it's like this really, really savvy and like sexy and interesting arrangement. Don't you think?

[4:52] Robert Bannon: Oh, so good. It's so, it comes out, you think it's going to be what, you know, and then it just takes you on a roller coaster ride.

[4:58] Donna Vivino: Oh, I love it. It's so much fun to play it.

[5:01] Robert Bannon: I love it. I, we've had the chance to speak to some of the cast here, some of the youngsters making their Broadway debuts, some of, you have a young, hip, what a young, hip, fun cast.

[5:11] Donna Vivino: I know.

[5:11] Robert Bannon: So what's it like to be there for them and to guide them through this process?

[5:18] Donna Vivino: Oh my goodness. You know, I learned from them too, because there's something about, it's been wonderful. Sometimes people will come to me, ask me questions. I'm one of the elders, but, you know, I, it's, I learned from them as well, because there's something about being reminded when you see all these other cast members making their Broadway debut, being reminded of like, how special it is and what that's like. And I also think that young people today also are not afraid to express how they're feeling in ways that maybe when I was their age, I'm not sure, I mean, off the stage as well as on. And I think social media is part of that. People are more open about who they are. And I just, I just, it's very, it's been very cool. And it's been really cool working with, he's not one of the Broadway debut youngsters, but Brandon Victor Dixon, because we went to college together and it's our first time.

[6:11] Donna Vivino: Oh, yeah. And it's our first time actually working together professionally. So, yeah.

[6:17] Robert Bannon: He has one of the most, firstly, he's one of the nicest people. And second, he's just a gentle giant of a man. And secondly, he is, sings.

[6:25] Donna Vivino: Woohoo!

[6:26] Robert Bannon: Yeah, he sings and he acts. I mean, he's just amazing. Yeah. He's amazing.

[6:31] Donna Vivino: So when you get the call to do this and you get to go on now for this stretch of time before you end the show, what's, what is a day like? How do you, how do you get into the process of being in this? And then how do you let it go at the end of the night? You let the angst and all the acting and you go home to your real life and you go back to reality. How do you let it go after the high of the show and the rollercoaster?

[6:54] Donna Vivino: It's hard to go to bed. I mean, I drive back to Jersey. I like to drive. I actually like that because I like the drive and it just is very meditative for me. That helps bring me back down. And then by the time I get home, I usually am up for another hour or two because I'm still a little keyed up. But I have to get up usually at six or seven in the morning to take my son to school. So I think the last time I was in a Broadway show, I've done plenty of shows between having my son and now, but the last time I was in a Broadway show, I did not have a child. And so it actually forces me to be like, okay, now I'm back home, back in reality, got to make the school lunch for tomorrow. It just has changed. I have to just like, I'm taking care of another human. So my whole mentality is different now. And I got to take care of myself. So for me, it's always about my body and my voice, making sure it's ready and healthy and warming up and all of those things.

[7:54] Robert Bannon: Well, this voice, everyone is legendary and what your voice can do. And especially what this role calls for is you ever see someone whistle tone and cut carrots, then you need to come see Hell's Kitchen because that's what they're up there singing.

[8:07] Donna Vivino: You're too funny with the cutting of the carrots. You'll never see better knife work than in Hell's Kitchen, I'll tell you by Jersey. So you, your career starting out when you look back and I'm going to see Les Mis the tour in Detroit next week, because it's just lives forever. I don't know. It's just, you could, it's eternal. Young Cosette.

[8:29] Donna Vivino: It's a new cat, now and forever, right?

[8:31] Robert Bannon: Forever. And another show that you have some experience, when you think about your career starting in that iconic show and being so young, what is it like to look back and think of you at that young age and in that juggernaut?

[8:45] Donna Vivino: My theater career started then, but I was doing film and television before that. So that's the thing. I was, I was on a TV show on CBS. I was a series regular and that show got canceled. And then this Les Mis thing came up and I'm like, I can sing, so I'll try. And then I booked it. I did not realize what a huge deal the show was until I was in my third grade class. And my teachers were like, can you get us tickets for that? We can't get tickets. And I'm like, wait, everybody.

[9:09] Donna Vivino: Complete solo in front of Macy's singing "Castle on the Cloud" and then yes, and then yesterday, you know, dancing in the rain, which was so exhilarating. Again, I had no idea at age eight that I was on national television singing this. I didn't think the song, there's a camera in front of my face. I'm gonna go to grandma's after for Thanksgiving. Looking back, it's really an honor to be part of such a legacy. I've been very blessed to be part of many legacy shows.

[10:08] Robert Bannon: You sure have been.

[10:11] Donna Vivino: We talked about, you know, "Les Mis," and then you talk about something like "Wicked." "Wicked" is the rage of the moment. Honestly, I still have such a fond spot in my heart for my time with "Wicked." I also was hard, but I loved being inhabiting her for a while and being a part of that company. I went to a screening that David Stone and Mark Platt had last week, and it was so great seeing all the other witches there. I was hanging out with some of the former Elphabas and Glindas and all of us watching it. Then I did an event in Williamsburg, Virginia, also with a former Glinda, and we did an interview before the movie and sang, and the movie is fantastic. I was so blown away and so moved by everyone, but Cynthia's portrayal, I just loved it so much.

I'm like choke sobbing because she gets it. She gets her inside and out. The camera's this close, and that's exactly it. That's exactly it. I'm like, yep, that's Elphaba. She is Elphaba to me. And then seeing Idina and the OG mother Elphaba, I call her, you know, so it's just funny. It's like I'm revisiting again with fresh eyes, and I look back and I'm just so honored to be part of that legacy. The company manager said to me after the show, she said, you know, we did that. Yeah, you guys sure did. She goes, no, we did. Everyone is standing on the shoulders of everyone who's ever done the show, and the show is running right now. There are people doing that eight times a week as we speak. It's just the movie's out, and then the tickets, people buying tickets for the Broadway show. It's just popular.

[12:07] Robert Bannon: Unintended.

[12:10] Donna Vivino: That’s what was so—did you see it?

[12:14] Robert Bannon: I did. Oh my god, I was crying because I remember going to see it the first year it came out on Broadway. I remember being moved by it. I remember how the songs feel. I remember going back and seeing different Elphabas and Glindas through the years and so many people now that I get to interview or I have become friends in New York and that you have done the show. I talked to Eden afterwards. I talked to, like, what you know that have such a—like you, like months and years of working on it that have become a part of you. And then to see it reflected on screen, but also as a teacher, I teach in Detroit. I taught 20 years in New Jersey in North Bergen, New Jersey. It moves me to see the others, the people that are on the periphery of the crowd who get this, and that's who Elphaba is.

To see her be different and find her voice, it's important. It's as important as ever. It was very moving. I'm gonna cry, and I feel like we're being Cynthia and Ariana right now. We have to stop, but what everyone's like, I there, I'm like that is real what they're feeling because you can't—it's just like it's the story. It's about those two, and it's such a special, special story. The music is just bananas. Stephen Schwartz is a genius. Alicia Keys, genius. I mean, there's an amazing songwriter.

[13:30] Donna Vivino: So what I'm telling people out here is that if you want to go see a movie, then go support musicals and go support "Wicked," and if you want to go see a Broadway show, go see our show, please. It's so amazing. The thing what I love about our show is that, you know, you know a lot of the songs, but then there are songs that you may not know that she wrote for the show that are amazing, like "Kaleidoscope." It's just like—and the dancing by Camille Brown, the voices, the dancing, the story, the mother-daughter story, it's very moving as well. So, you know, go see both. Go see "Wicked" in the afternoon and come see us that night.

[14:10] Robert Bannon: I love "Kaleidoscope." So good. I get a great song stuck right in my head.

[14:14] Donna Vivino: It's a good song. It's a great song. So the whole cast is bananas.

[14:18] Robert Bannon: So yeah, you're gonna be in Jersey for the holidays?

[14:23] Donna Vivino: Yeah, I mean, I live in Jersey now, so that's it. So yeah. Oh, yes. Yes. Yes. I'm actually, I'm not—I have a show coming up in January, but I'm not doing a run of a show in December. So I am actually not working for Christmas, which is crazy. I was like, what am I gonna do with myself? It's gonna be great.

[14:41] Robert Bannon: Yes, that sounds amazing to me. Take a nap, go to the Garden State Plaza.

[14:47] Donna Vivino: I take a bow.

[14:54] Robert Bannon: Oh my gosh, you are giving every reference. My word. Have you seen the Bergen Town Center? It's very nice.

[14:58] Donna Vivino: Very nice.

[15:03] Robert Bannon: I was just at Paramus Park Mall, right? Because I'm in Hillsdale, New Jersey, at my brother's house.

[15:07] Donna Vivino: Oh my goodness, I might—yes, my aunt lives in Westwood, which is really close.

[15:13] Robert Bannon: Yeah, yeah, right there. I'll have to meet you at a diner. We'll have to have—

[15:18] Donna Vivino: Oh my gosh, what's your favorite Jersey diner?

[15:21] Robert Bannon: There's a lot, you know, we've been going—we just went the other day with my mother. We just went over to the River Edge Diner because my brother likes it, but I like the Suburban Diner on Route 17. That's my diner.

[15:27] Donna Vivino: No, Donna, if I see you, I'm sending you over a cheesecake.

[15:32] Robert Bannon: Oh my gosh, that's my diner, and I just went in there the other day, and there was someone from "The Sopranos" just sitting there, Vinny Pastorelli, and I was like, Vinny! Like, I know it's so Jersey. You will never—it's the best. They have a really good menu too. Very good. Their salads, they're giant. The harvest salad, beautiful salads, good eggs, you know, I eat—I usually get breakfast every Friday morning at the Suburban Diner. I'm not even kidding.

[15:55] Donna Vivino: Oh, now everyone's gonna show up.

[15:59] Robert Bannon: No, I didn't go today though. But yeah, that's it. All right. Well, now we know where we'll find Donna in the future, and we also find you until the 11th.

[16:05] Donna Vivino: The 11th, that's right, at the Shubert Theatre.

[16:09] Robert Bannon: That's right. You can find me until December 11th at the Shubert Theatre playing Jersey. Come through. It's a great, great show. If you have already seen it, come back because a lot of people do come back. That's what I'm noticing. They want to see it again, which is so much fun.

[16:25] Donna Vivino: It's so much fun.

[16:26] Robert Bannon: And then you're gonna want to jump and get out of your seat a bit of show, get on your feet. There's no way to not—well, I walked out. I went to the show. It was the first month the show was downtown on Broadway. I went with my friend. Yeah, they gave us tickets down the show and the season, and I'm not shading other Broadway shows—very serious, very heavy stuff—and this show ended, and I said, this is fun. This is a fun night.

[16:49] Donna Vivino: It's fun, but it still has a beautiful message, and it will get you right here. I mean, there are tears in this show. There's tissue moments, right?

[16:57] Robert Bannon: Oh, yeah, two of them at least, but I'm telling you, I think that we are—we are to meet you.

[17:06] Donna Vivino: You sell every week. It's other people's pick too because this is it, everybody. So go to Hell's Kitchen. We could get tickets. We're gonna put the link below us, so when you're watching us, you can get tickets. We're gonna follow Donna Vivino right on Instagram right below us as well so we could stay up to date on what she's up to next because she's got other things happening. She's already told January she's back out here, and we have a lot more. Your show is your show. I will see you anytime on about in the 201.

[17:34] Donna Vivino: Oh my god, Robert, you're just wonderful. I'm so happy to talk to you and meet you like this. I'm so excited because I followed your career, and I've seen your family all around this, and I've seen them, and I've seen—and I was like when they were like, Donna Vivino is doing and finishing her run, and I want her on my show. We are Jersey.

[17:55] Robert Bannon: We are Jersey, and I'm playing Jersey, so let's do it. It's the moment. Thank you so much. I can't wait to talk to you again.

[18:00] Donna Vivino: Yeah, thanks, Robert.